Human evolution is 'speeding up'

Human evolution is 'speeding up'

news.bbc.co.uk

Humans have moved into the evolutionary fast lane and are becoming increasing different, a genetic study suggests.

In the past 5,000 years, genetic change has occurred at a rate roughly 100 times higher than any other period, say scientists in the US.

This is in contrast with the widely-held belief that recent human evolution has halted.

(visit the link for the full news article)

The report goes on to say that the difference between races is widening, rather than humans becoming a generic species.

I find this interesting because of the whole "global village" stuff we are bombarded with.

This evolutionary process is based on natural selection, with the most successful genetic groups expanding at a much greater rate than previously thought.

So it seems that as a species we are becoming much more differentiated because of environmental factors, and that this change is occurring at a much greater rate.

news.bbc.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

"Speeding up" but in a bad way. Kids and young adults that would have been selected out with some illness or injury are given treatments and go on to breed.

This adds even more crap into gene pool that needs more and more treatment to breed again.

I will concede that there are more and wider breedings going on but at the same time I think the data would show that there are more and more bad things being passed on because of modern medicine. Natural selection has all but been halted in any of the developed countries....

Sorry to sound crass but I was an evo biologist for a time....

[edit on 11-12-2007 by UofCinLA]